Upholding legal and ethical standards

Today the Wall Street Journal reported that Microsoft is cooperating with the U.S. government to investigate allegations that Microsoft employees and business partners may have engaged in illegal activity in Pakistan and Russia.

As previously stated, we take every allegation seriously, and we cooperate fully in any government inquiries. Like other large companies with operations around the world, we sometimes receive allegations about potential misconduct by employees or business partners, and we investigate them fully, regardless of the source. We also invest heavily in proactive training, monitoring and audits to ensure our business operations around the world meet the highest legal and ethical standards.

Compliance is the job of every employee at the company, but we also have a group of professionals focused directly on ensuring compliance. We have more than 50 people whose primary role is investigating potential breaches of company policy, and an additional 120 people whose primary role is compliance. This is a reflection of the size and complexity of our business, and the seriousness with which we take meeting our obligations.

We are proud of the role Microsoft plays in bringing technology to businesses, governments, non-profits and consumers around the world and the positive economic impact the company has in local communities, and we remain committed to the highest legal and ethical standards in every country where we do business.